Identification of CD4+ T cell epitopes on glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase-C of Staphylococcus aureus in Babl/c mice

• DOI: 10.1016/j.micpath.2020.104167
• Publication Date: 2020-03-25T23:59:46Z
• Authors: Siyu Yang; Wanyu Li; Zhaowei Fan; Lu Zhai; Jing Chen; Xue Xiao; Jun Ma; Baifen Song; Jinzhu Ma; Chunyu Tong; Liquan Yu; Yongzhong Yu; Weifan Cao; Yudong Cui
• Keywords: Glyceraldehyde 3-phosphate dehydrogenase

Glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase-C (GapC) is a highly conserved surface protein of Staphylococcus aureus, with glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase (GAPDH) activity, which represents an excellent vaccine candidate antigen. It can induce protective immune responses to S. aureus infections. However, CD4+ T cell epitopes of GapC that induce CD4+ T cell immune responses are currently unclear. In this study, we used bioinformatics prediction algorithms to predict CD4+ T cell epitopes of GapC. Ten peptides were synthesized to investigate the candidate epitopes. Our results showed that the peptides, G4 (GapC 104-123) and G10 (GapC 314-333) were able to induce proliferation of CD4+ T cells and secrete high levels of interferon (IFN)-γ, respectively. In addition, they significantly reduced bacterial loads in tissue and induced immunoprotective effects. It is suggested that G4 and G10 are Th1-type epitopes of S. aureus GapC. This study provides the potential development of the design of epitope-based vaccine against S. aureus.